The dynasty lives on.

Five Penn State-affiliated wrestlers took to the mat in Samokov, Bulgaria, to compete in the U20 World Championships from August 17-24. After earning starting positions on the United States U20 National Team, Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke took home gold medals in the event, with William Henckel taking silver, while Connor and Cole Mirasola took bronze.

How It Happened

Marcus Blaze (61 kg)

One of three Penn State incoming freshmen at this event, Marcus Blaze, steamrolled his way to the gold medal match in Bulgaria.

Up first, Blaze took on Sandro Thomas Hungerbuehler of Switzerland. It was all gas for Blaze, racking up a 10-0 technical superiority victory in just 1:26. In the next matchup, Blaze beat Sargis Begoyan of Armenia by disqualification. In the quarterfinal match, Blaze took on Askat Toktomatov of Kyrgyzstan. The match was never close as Blaze rolled to an 11-1 technical superiority, placing himself in the semifinals.

In the semifinal matchup, Blaze faced unattached Magomedkhan Magamedkhanov. Although it was back-and-forth to start the matchup, Blaze ran away with the victory, winning via technical superiority by a score of 15-4 and moving on to the gold medal match.

In the championship bout, Blaze faced off against U17 World Champion Ahora Kahteri of Iran. Blaze got it going early and extended his lead throughout the match. Blaze took home the Gold Medal with a 10-0 victory.

PJ Duke (70 kg)

To say PJ Duke is ready for the collegiate ranks is beyond an understatement. The incoming freshman ran through his competition on the world stage, just as he did during the U20 National Team Trials.

In his first match, Duke made quick work of Umut Uslu of Turkey, beating him by an 11-0 technical fall just 1:21 into the match. Duke then took on Gabriel Alejandro Sanchez Zepeda of Mexico. All it took was 43 seconds for Duke to beat Zepeda by fall and move into the quarterfinal against Abdoullah Nakaev of France. Although the French wrestler put up a better fight, Duke managed to secure a 14-4 technical fall with 1:43 left in the bout.

In the semifinals, Duke took on Ebrahim Elahi Chouran of Iran. In a close match, Duke got the lone takedown in the matchup, leaving him the victor by criteria after the match ended 2-2. In the finals, the future Nittany Lion took on Alexandr Gaidarli of Moldova. In what turned into a back-and-forth slugfest, Duke managed to score the final takedown with 45 seconds remaining in the match to secure the 7-5 decision victory and become a U20 World Champion.

William Henckel (79 kg)

A third incoming freshman for the Nittany Lions, Henckel marched his way to a gold medal match in the U20 World Championships.

In his first match, Henckel took on Maksat Tabyldyev of Kyrgyzstan. Although Tabyldyev ended strong, Henckel managed to hang on for an 8-5 win. Next, the future Nittany Lion took on Bohdan Oleksiienko of Ukraine. The match was closer than the score felt, but Henckel managed to score the final takedown to get the 10-0 technical fall victory. Next, in the quarterfinal, Henckel faced Davit Tchetchelashvili of Georgia. The Georgian took an early 3-0 lead, Henckel came back to take the lead 4-3 before the end of the first period. The two wrestlers traded takedowns with two minutes left in the match. Henckel dropped to a single to take the lead back and then connected yet again to take the 11-5 victory.

In the semifinals, Henckel faced Amit of India in what turned out to be a great matchup. The future Nittany Lion took off to a 5-0 lead, but was then taken down and nearly pinned. Although Amit forces a step-out and passivity warning down the stretch, Henckel holds off and moves into the finals with a 5-4 victory. In the gold medal match, Henckel faced Mahdi Yousefi of Iran. After going down 8-2 with a minute left, Henckel couldn’t dig himself out of the hole in time. The future Nittany Lion ended up losing 8-6 and brought home a silver medal.

Connor Mirasola (92 kg)

A redshirt freshman at Penn State and now a member of the U20 National Team, Connor Mirasola had a competitive outing at the World Championships.

In his first match, Mirasola took on Zixu Yuan of China. After a pair of takedowns, Mirasola finishes off Yuan with a few gut-wrenches to secure the 10-0 technical superiority victory. Next, he took on Kamii Kurugliyev of Kazakhstan in what turned out to be a great match. The Nittany Lion took a small lead to start, but soon fell victim to a four-point move. Mirasola clawed back into the matchup but was unable to turn Kurugliyev in time, losing 7-5 and being pulled into the repechage.

To stay alive for bronze, Mirasola took on Teimuraz Kochkiani of Georgia. The Nittany Lion hung tough and defeated the Georgian by technical superiority, 12-2, moving him into the bronze medal match against Azerbaijan’s Anar Jafarli. Mirasola ran through his opponent in his final match of the tournament. The Nittany Lion won via 10-0 technical superiority and takes home the bronze medal.

Cole Mirasola (125 kg)

Cole Mirasola, the identical twin brother of Connor Mirasola, earned the starting position at 125 kg for the U20 National Team after redshirting his freshman season at Penn State.

Up first, he wrestled Sertac Aksoy of Turkey. It didn’t take long for the Nittany Lion to handle business as he got to a low ankle shot and quickly got the leg lace to rack up a 10-0 tech fall in just 42 seconds. In the quarterfinals, Mirasola faced the unattached Inal Gagloev. Although it wasn’t pretty, Mirasola secured a takedown and step-out to come away with the 3-0 victory and move into the semifinals against Yedige Kassimbek of Kazakhstan.

Unfortunately for the Nittany Lion, Kassimbek proved to be too much as the wrestler out of Kazakhstan rolled to an 11-0 tech fall over Mirasola. In the bronze medal final, Mirasola took on Narantulga Darmaabazar of Mongolia. Although it was back-and-forth to start, Mirasola got to his leg lace and swiftly got five rolls to secure a 12-2 technical superiority and a bronze medal finish.